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A bill to expand the U.S. Geological Survey Critical Minerals List under the Energy Act of 2020 advanced in the House this week, the Committee on Natural Resources announced Tuesday.  

What’s going on: The House Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources moved forward the Critical Mineral Consistency Act, introduced by Rep. Juan Ciscomani (R-AZ) last month.

• The measure would add the Department of Energy’s list of critical minerals to the USGS’s list of the same.
• “While the statutory definition of critical minerals and critical materials are similar, the two agencies created very different methodologies when developing their lists,” Rep. Ciscomani’s office said in a press release on the bill’s introduction.

Why it’s important: The USGS’s list of critical minerals is eligible for more incentives than the DOE’s listing of critical materials, according to Rep. Ciscomani.

• These include “various clean energy tax credits, financing support and FAST-41 Permitting Dashboard access,” the press release continued, referring to a site for projects covered under Title 41 of the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act.
• Copper, silicon, electrical steel and silicon carbide—all critical to the clean energy transition—are on the DOE’s list but not on the USGS’s list.

The last word: “With both critical minerals and critical materials playing such a key role in everything from energy to national security, we need to ensure our federal agencies are operating with the same understanding of what we need to prioritize,” Rep. Ciscomani said.